US3372728A

US3372728A - Shade cornice

Info

Publication number: US3372728A
Application number: US515969A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward E Schaefer
Original assignee: Central Specialties Co
Current assignee: Central Specialties Co
Priority date: 1965-12-23
Filing date: 1965-12-23
Publication date: 1968-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 1985-03-12

Description

March 12, 1968 FIG. 1

E. E. SCHAEFER SHADE CORNICE Filed Dec. I87

43 INVENTOR.

Edward E. Schoefer Arforneys United States Patent Office 3,372,728 Patented Mar. 12, 1968 3,372,723 dHADE CQRNECE Edward E. Schaefer, Winnetka, Ill, assignor to Central Specialties (30., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 515,969 3 Claims. (Cl. 160-39) AliSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A window shade cornice which generally includes a pair of brackets and a cornice body portion which is formed of two end sections that are slidably retained within a center section so as to be adjustable in width. Preferably the cornice body portion is fabricated of a plastic which is flexible, to some degree, however, it also may be fabricated of wood or metal. The window shade cornice is easily installed by first mounting the two brackets and then assembling the cornice body portion and adjusting the width of it to fit between the brackets. In packaging the window shade cornices, the sections of the cornice body portion are disassembled and the complete cornice can therefore be packaged in a relatively small package which may be easily shipped and stored.

This invention relates to windows shade cornices and more-particularly to adjustable window shade cornices which can be quickly and easily installed without need of cutting them to fit.

Most window casings and the like are constructed to a particular standard, however, the tolerances maintained are usually not too exact. Presently available cornices are therefore generally constructed oversize to compensate for the tolerance variations and, in most cases, must be cut to the proper width for a particular application. These cornices therefore require considerable effort to install them and, furthermore, generally have to be painted, or touched-up with paint to cover exposed edges which result from cutting them. Presently available cornices also present considerable shipping and storage problems since they are formed to the standard window sizes and are therefore relatively dimcult to package and to store because of their lengths.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved window shade cornices. In this respect, it is contemplated that the window shade cornices be adaptable to various size, in width, windows without the necessity of cutting them to fit.

A further object is to provide window shade cornices which can be quickly and easily installed, with only a screwdriver, for example.

Still another object is to provide window shade cornices which greatly simplifies the packaging, the shipping and the storing of them.

Another object is to provide improved window shade cornices which are adapted to support window shades, curtain rod holders and the like.

Still another object is to provide improved window shade cornices which are easily and relatively inexpensively manufactured.

A still further object is to provide improved window shade cornices which are constructed so that various portions thereof are complimentary to permit their use as different elements of different size or dimensioned cornices, thereby reducing substantially the inventory required to maintain an inventory of different size or dimensioned cornices.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The above objectives are accomplished with a window shade cornice which generally includes a pair of brackets and a cornice body portion which is formed of two end sections that are slidably retained within a center section so as to be adjustable in width. Preferably the cornice body portion is fabricated of a plastic which is flexible, to some degree, however, it also may be fabricated of wood or metal. The window shade cornice is easily installed by first mounting the two brackets and then as sembling the cornice body portion and adjusting the width of it to fit between the brackets. In packaging the window shade cornices, the sections of the cornice body portion are disassembled and the complete cornice can therefore be packaged in a relatively small package which may be easily shipped and stored.

The invention accordingly compsises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a Window shade cornice exemplary of the invention, mounted on the outside of a window case which is partially shown;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cornice end section illustrating the manner in which it is retained within a cornice bracket;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the method of installing the cornice;

FIG. 4 is an end View of the cornice;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 3', after the installation is completed, illustrating a cornice end section as it is retained Within a cornice bracket, and having a window shade roller diagrammatically illustrated to show the manner in which it is concealed and retained within the window shade cornice; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the cornice brackets.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. 1 a window shade cornice iii exemplary of the present invention is illustrated installed on the outside of the window cases 12 of a window 14. The cornice Ill includes a pair of

brackets

16 and 17, and a cornice body portion 18 which is formed of two cornice end sections 2% and 22 and a cornice center section 21. The cornice end sections 26 and 22 are adapted to slidably fit within the cornice center section 21 and within the

brackets

16 and 17 so that the three sections Ztl-ZZ can be assembled and slidably adjusted to fit in the

brackets

16 and 17. In FIG. 1, it can be seen that with this construction an attractive cornice which is easily adaptable to fit any size window casing, Within limits, without cutting, is provided.

More particularly, the cornice 10 includes a cornice body portion 13 which has a cornice center section 21 and two cornice end sections 2t and 22 which are formed to slidably fit within the center section 21. The

cornice end sections

20 and 22 and the cornice center section 21 are all preferably formed of a flexible, light weight plastic so as to provide the numerous advantageous features hereinafter described. If desired, however, these sections can be formed of substantially any type of material such as metal, or wood and, in such cases, many of its advantageous features are still provided.

In FIG. 2, the cross-section of One of the cornice end sections 2% and 22 is shown and it can be seen that the end sections are substantially L-shaped in

construction having legs

24 and 25. The end 27 of the leg 24 is bent downwardly at a right angle so as to form a support surface 28 which abuts against a back end wall 30 of one of the

brackets

16 or 17. A lower portion 31 of the leg 25 is arcuately bent, in a concave fashion, to provide both an attractive appearance and rigidity to the end sections. Also, the end of the leg 25 is bent, backwardly in a U shaped fashion, to provide a tongue or rail 32 which 18 slidable into and retained within a correspondingly shaped groove 34 formed in the

brackets

16 and 17.

The cornice center section 21 is of a like construction but sufficiently larger in size so that the

end section

20 and 22 are siidably receivable therein. In manufacture, the center section 21 and the

end sections

20 and 22 are fabricated in several sizes, and in a manner such that the end sections become the center section and vice versa for the differently dimensioned cornices. In this fashion, the inventory of different size cornices can be substantially reduced since it is unnecessary to stock complete cornices of all of the different sizes.

The

brackets

16 and 17 are of like construction and are mirror images of one another so as to form brackets for the left and right sides, respectively, for the cornice 10. Also, the bracket for the left side of the cornice, in this case bracket 16, has a window shade retaining bracket 36 (FIG. 6) with a notch cut-out 37 therein for the spring end (not shown) of a window shade roller. Correspondingly, the bracket for the right side of the cornice, in this case bracket 17, has a window shade retaining bracket 40 (FIG. 2) with a round hole 41 for the round pin end (not shown) of a window shade roller. The

brackets

16 and 17 therefore are adapted to retain all types of window 'shade rollers of standard construction.

As can be best seen in FIGS. and 6, the

brackets

16 and 17 are of substantially box-like construction having an end Wall 43, a front wall 44, a top wall 45 and a back wall 30. The bottom of the brackets are open, to permit easy installation of a window shade roller. The back wall 30 of the brackets have a number of apertures 47 therein for receiving fastening means such as threaded screws for securing the brackets to the outside of a window casing, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The end wall 43 and the top wall 45 of the brackets also both have a number of

apertures

48 and 49 formed therein, respectively, for receiving fastening means for securing the brackets between 'window stops, to either the sides or tops thereof so that the cornice can be installed either between the window stops or on the outside window casing, or alternatively, directly to the ceiling. The front wall 44 of the

brackets

16 and 17 are each correspondingly shaped like the front leg or wall of the

end sections

20 and 22, having an arcuately bent portion 51 and a reversely bent end forming a U-shaped groove 34. A support 53 for the leg 24 of the

end section

20 or 22 is formed in the end walls 43 of the

brackets

16 and 17 by punching and bending inwardly a small U-shaped tab which engages the underside of the leg 24 and supports it, when assembled.

To install the cornice 10, the

brackets

16 and 17 are secured by fastening means extended through the

apertures

47, or 49, to either a window casing, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or between the window stops. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the

end sections

20 and 22 are slidingly inserted into the center section 21 until the width of the three sections is smaller than the width between the

brackets

16 and 17. In doing so, the tongues or rails 32 on the end sections are slidingly engaged in the grooves 34 on the

brackets

16 and 17, and the ends of the legs 24 adjusted to slide between the underside of the top walls and the topside of the supports 53, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5. For best appearance, the center section 21 should be adjusted so that the end sections extend equal distances beyond its ends. It may be noted that the installation may be accomplished using only a screwdriver to fasten the

brackets

16 and 17 and that the cornice may be fitted to any window without having to cut it to proper size before hand. A further advantage of this latter feature is "that the

brackets

16 and 17 may be installed independently of the rest of the cornice so that the fastening means can be easily installed without hinderance by the balance of the cornice. Furthermore, the major portion, sections 2022, can be easily removed for cleaning merelyby sliding the end sections 2i) and 22 into the center section 21 and removing them from the

brackets

16 and 17. It therefore is unnecessary to remove the brackets 16 and 1'7, as required with most presently available cornices. The ends of a window shade roller 55 are next inserted within the window

shade roller brackets

16 and 17. The front walls of the sections 2t 22, as can be seen in FIG. 5, conceal the window shade roller and provide an attractively appearing cornice.

The cornice end and center sections 2ti22, as previously indicated, can be advantageously fabricated of a plastic material and, in such a case, the plastic can be various colors so that painting is unnecessary. In this respect, another advantageous feature of the cornice 10 is that the end sections need not be painted or touched up with paint to cover bare edges which result from cutting the cornice to the proper width, as it is generally necessary to do with the presently available cornices.

Also, if fabricated of a flexible plastic, installation and assembly is further simplified since the design of the

end sections

20 and 22 and the center section 21 is such that the sections 20-22 can be snap-fitted together. This feature eliminates the need of slidingly fitting the

end sections

20 and 22 into the center section 21 during assembly, as it is generally necessary to do if the sections 20- 22 are of a non-flexible type of material or constnuction.

Still another feature and advantage of the cornices of the present invention lies in the greater ability to package and to store or ship them. Being fabricated in sections, the overall length of the cornices can be virtually cut in thirds by separating the

end sections

20 and 22 and the center section 21. A shipping or packing carton which is no longer in length than the longest one of these three sections only need be used. The advantage of this feature is apparent. In the case of a cornice 36 inches in width, normally a shipping or packing carton which is at least 36 inches long is required. With the cornice of the present invention, the length of the carton can be reduced to approximately 16-18 inches. Also, since the cartons are substantially smaller in length, they can be stored much more easily.

The brackets 16 and. 17 may also have curtain rod brackets and 61 afiixed thereto, respectively, or a universal type bracket (not shown) can be affixed to them so that virtually any type of window covering, such as a window shade or curtains of various types, can be removably supported within the cornice 117. Also, the width of the cornice 10 can be expanded by adding pieces or by lengthening the extrusion. In the former case, it may be noted that additional center sections 21 can be afiixed to the

end sections

20 and 22 and still another

end section

20 or 22 afiixed to the added center section, to lengthen the cornice 10.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent 1. A window shade cornice comprising, in combination: a cornice body portion having a center section and a pair of end sections slidably retained Within said center section so as to be adjustable in width, a pair of brackets rflcfiiviflg and retain g e respective ones of the ends of said pair of end sections, said end sections each being substantially L-shaped in construction having the end of its one leg folded to form a support and having the end of its other leg folded to form rail means which is slidably retained Within a correspondingly shaped groove in said brackets, said leg also having an arcuately shaped recess therein to provide an attractive appearance and rigidity to said end section, said cornice center section being of a like configuration and of such dimension so as to slidably receive said end sections therein, said brackets each being substantially of box-like construction having a front wall, a top wall, a back wall and an end Wall, said front wall having a configuration corresponding to said end sections and said back Wall and said end wall having a plurality of apertures therein for fastener means for securing said brackets to a window casing and between Window stops, respectively, a support tab formed in said end wall for supporting one leg of said end sections.

2. A window shade cornice, as claimed in claim 1. wherein each of said brackets includes respective ones of a pair of Window shade retaining brackets.

3. A Window shade cornice, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said end sections and said center sections are fabricated of a material having suflicient flexibility to permit said section to be snap fitted to one another for rapid assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 598,409 2/1898 Bliss et al 160-39 1,713,666 5/1929 Lasell 160-39 1,727,528 9/1929 Truemper 160-39 X 3,138,195 6/1964 COX 160-39 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. I. KARL BELL, Assistant Examiner.